I do not own an XBox, but a friend of mine does. I recently changed my regular on-console gamer profile to an XBox Live Silver profile so that I can use my profile on any XBox. I do want to play online occasionally, but I have heard that it is not possible to play online with a Silver profile.

I've seen several places say that its possible to play with online for select games; is this true? Where might I find such a list?

6 Answers
6

As it currently stands, you must have Gold privileges - either from your account, as part of a Family Pack, or as part of a promotion - to play online. Free (formerly known as Silver) and local accounts cannot otherwise play online.

At one point, Microsoft did offer online play to Free/Silver members for select titles, but it was for a limited time, and that no longer appears to be the case.

One notable exception is Final Fantasy XI, which does not require a Gold account to play online. That game does require its own monthly subscription, though, which somewhat explains the difference.
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cloudymusicAug 16 '12 at 16:50

As far as I am aware, it is only possible to play multiplayer games online through Xbox Live if you have a gold account, or if you are playing on a Free Gold Weekend, which are special, and often rare, events that happen often to celebrate the release of a new title or occasionally for holidays.

You can play online with silver on certain games if you're on the same console and playing with a person who has gold. For example, the Halo games, although various limitations apply. There is a somewhat relevant list here.